


you'll be alright

by meghan2201



Category: Original Work
Genre: "Pick Who Dies", Angst, Fic, Gen, OC, Rescue, Where do you think you're going?, Whump, Whumptober 2020, no.2, no.8, wrongfully accused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:49:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26903176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meghan2201/pseuds/meghan2201
Summary: "You know what he did! We have to kill him!"~A short, open-ended one-shot for Whumptober Day 2. Use your imagination. Come up with your own backstory. Be creative.~Whumptober no. 2 Prompt: "Pick Who Dies"Fandom: none
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	you'll be alright

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober Day 2! It's late, by a week, but whatever. I didn't use the given theme for this work, but I did use one of the prompts.
> 
> themes:  
> ~Where Do You Think You're Going?
> 
> prompts:  
> ~"Pick Who Dies"  
> ~Rescue  
> ~Wrongfully Accused

“You know what he did! We have to kill him!” he hissed, his voice getting louder. His glare, cold and murderous, was directed at me. Anyone else would have shied away or backed down, but not me. I stood my ground and kept my eyes locked on his, daring him to oppose me.  
  
“No, you listen to me, Carson!” I yelled back at him, my rising volume rivaling his. My pointer finger jabbed the air in front of him. “Right now, it doesn’t matter what he did. It doesn’t matter who he is, or who his parents were. It doesn’t matter what you think of him. All that matters is that he is a person, a human, just like you and me. And Jake doesn’t deserve to die.”  
  
“No, what _matters_ is that a girl is _dead_. And it’s _Jacob Andersen’s fault_.” His chest was rising and falling, and he was breathing heavily.  
  
“It’s not _his_ fault! Can you just stop being so caught up in your ancient vendetta against him and just think for a second? He didn’t want Ella to die, and he’s just as pained as we are by her… death. Maybe even more than we are!”  
  
“You can’t know that. For all we know, he pushed her to kill herself so his life could be free of her. You know he’s a good actor. He could’ve been completely faking his guilt and grief.”  
  
“Why would he do that? He just wanted her to be safe. He wouldn’t’ve told her to kill herself. And I do know that he’s an actor, yes, but that wasn’t acting. I’ve watched him act before. That was not fake. He _loved_ her!”  
  
“Yeah, maybe that’s what he told you, but I don’t believe it. He’s a liar.”  
  
“Stop it. Just because he lied to you once before doesn’t make him a liar. And he didn’t even want to lie to you! He was just-”  
  
“I’m not having this conversation with you. You don’t know anything.” His voice was flat. Low. His strong, argumentative tone had dropped to a sinister, menacing deadpan. A shiver crawled up my spine. With one last glare, he grabbed his gun and stormed out of the room.  
  
“No, wait, come back! We’re not done talking. Where do you think you’re going?”  
  
“Away from you,” he replied in the same emotionless tone.  
  
I huffed and put on my jacket. It was rainy and cold outside, and I didn’t want to be soaking wet and freezing after prying Carson off of Jake. I ran out through the door and scanned the area for Carson. It was early in the morning -- the sun hadn’t even risen yet -- and I had to squint through the heavy rain in the darkness to find Carson, but when I found him, I froze. He was walking closer to Jake, fingering the safety on his gun.  
  
Jake had his back turned to Carson, and he was staring at the ground. He was sitting at his spot, the one he always shared with Ella. Carson had his gun out.  
  
_No, no, no_ , I thought. I broke out of my trance and sprinted to Jake. I was so close, but they didn’t see me.  
  
“Jake!” I called, but it was too late. Jake’s head whipped around to look at me as Carson pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot from Carson’s suppressed gun was further muffled by the pouring rain and violent winds, and Jake didn’t see it coming.  
  
“No!” I screamed as I pummelled into him, pushing him out of the way. The impact knocked the breath out of me, and I gasped. My hands touched my abdomen when I felt liquid trickling down it, and my fingers came away sticky and wet. I didn’t need the faint luminance of the sun beginning to rise to know what had happened.  
  
“Tessa?” Jake croaked out. “Wh- What’s going on?” He must have been so confused, lying there on the muddy grass.  
  
His eyes were red and puffy as he looked at me, and he seemed so tired.  
  
“Tess?” a soft, timid voice cried out. Carson. He dropped his gun and ran to me. “No, no, Tessa, no. Why would you do that?” His bottom lip quivered slightly as his shaking hands pressed down on my abdomen. I winced as a sharp pain shot through my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, but I had trouble opening them again. My eyelids were so heavy, and I was so tired.  
  
Carson swore. “Andersen, keep her talking! Tessa, you’re not dying today, do you hear me?” His voice, full of denial and guilt, told me he was so determined to keep me alive. I could see it in his eyes that he was afraid. “You are not dying today,” he repeated, but it was more for himself than me.  
  
“Don’t you get it, Carson?” I said hoarsely. “We don’t get to choose… who lives… and who dies.”  
  
“Tessa, no, stay with us. You’re going to be okay. You’ll be alright, come on, _come on_ ,” Jake pleaded. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears brimming in his eyes for what I can only imagine would be the hundredth time today. “It doesn’t have to be you.”  
  
“No. It always had to be me,” I whispered quietly. My labored breathing became slower and shallower as I closed my eyes. I was so tired. All I knew was that Jake was alive, and he was going to be okay. _I_ was going to be okay. “Let me go.”

~

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound_

-"Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars


End file.
